The goal of this project is to construct the alliances and organizational structure necessary for Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee and the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) to establish a Regional Research Center for Minority Oral Health. Our specific aims are: 1. To construct scientific alliances between Meharry and UAB that will furnish a permanent basis for a regional minority oral health research center. This will be done by establishing small, oral health research projects which involve investigators at both organizations. These projects focus on connective tissue and oral microbiology. 2. To increase the number of minority dentists engaged in oral health research. This will be accomplished by offering faculty development opportunities for minority dentists in a research project on the epidemiology of oral flora. The context for the faculty development program will be an established research program at UAB and an extension of the program to Nashville as a small research project; the extension will be conducted by the faculty members undergoing research development. 3. To support the program of faculty development and to provide resources for additional oral health research by establishing a core oral microbiology laboratory in Meharry's School of Dentistry. 4. To enhance minority participation in oral health research. This will be done by enabling minority UAB investigators to conduct pilot projects designed to generate competitive applications for extramural support. 5. To develop a shared administrative infrastructure for minority oral health research. This will be achieved by establishing a Center Development Core which administers the entire project, strengthens alliances between our organizations, cultivates relationships with regional dental schools, and encourages minority students to conduct oral health research.